


Going too fast fast, save us...

by Fanofthebastillelife



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Burryface, Death, F/M, Vessel, car crash, joshler - Freeform, jumpsuit, nico and the niners, trench, twenty one pilots - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 21:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanofthebastillelife/pseuds/Fanofthebastillelife
Summary: W E ' R E  G O I N G  T O O  F A S T  F A S T  S A V E  U S





	Going too fast fast, save us...

Lights of amber and white illuminate the faces of the two boys as they race down the desolate highway in the drummers' car, the clock on the dashboard reading three AM. The driver and his passenger are ecstatic, feeling as though the whole world sits in the palm of their very hand. Everything they hoped and wished for is laid out in front of them, and now, anything is possible.

"This is so, so great, Josh!" The singer yells over the roar of the engine as it flies on the tarmac, the red of the dashboard giving their faces a warm hue. Joy is apparent in their eyes and in their voices, and they're hardly able to contain the excitement that fills them. "An arena tour! Worldwide! Gosh, Josh, I thought we'd never get out of that basement!"

Josh laughs with Tyler, taking his gaze away from the road so he can look at his very best friend, the man he is going to do great things with. He knew that Tyler could do it, he knew the boy could capture the world in a song, the struggles of a usual life, and he knew he could make it big.

"No, man," Josh disagrees, shaking his head in defiance. "I thought we could do it. I knew you could do it! I always believed in it, in us. When I saw you up there before I even joined, woah... I could see your name climbing the charts, your voice on every radio station. This is amazing, though! I'm so proud of you."

 Tyler just smiles, that happy, dosy smile that just screams joy. All of the world is open for him now, for him and Josh.

Great things are to come.

"You're my best friend, Ty."

  
The man who once sang stares at the food on his plate, which is now turning cold. He can't even find the strength inside of him to pick up his fork. He hasn't had the strength inside of him to do anything since it happened. Nothing feels right without his best friend and partner in crime by his side. Who is he to carry on after such a thing has happened to them?

"Come on, Tyler..." Jenna says quietly to her husband in a calm, soothing voice, one that would usually calm the angriest of beats. Her features are full of worry, almost remorse. It's bad enough that Josh is gone, but Tyler has been so distant recently that it feels like a part of Tyler has gone too. "You have to eat something, anything. Josh... Josh wouldn't want you like this. You know he wou-"

"I don't care." Tyler replies the voice of the damaged man lacking the upbeat, childish undertones it once held, the love of the world and the happiness has faded. Everything about him seems estranged, and Jenna isn't the only one noticing it. He glares at the table- Josh would be over today, playing video games and fooling around. "Josh wouldn't want me to be anything like I am now. But he's not here. It doesn't matter."

Jenna gives a heavy sigh. It's either of defeat or sympathy- she can't decide which one. For the last few nights, her husband had refused to sleep. The nights prior to those, when he made the decision that he didn't like sleeping, he would wake up sobbing every night saying that Josh was stood over him, telling him that the crash was his fault. After it happened twice, he believed Josh. When it wasn't that dream, it was the crash repeated, and Tyler sees it all, he sees ways he can stop it but his hands just don't move fast enough.

That's when he feels the worst. He knows it's his fault.

"Come on, Babe. You're not even sleeping," she reminds him in a whisper, her hand lightly grazing the skin of Tyler's cheek.

"What's the point?" He replies, shaking his head. In a way, he seems to melt to her touch, his head resting against her palm. If she wasn't there, Tyler doubts he would be too.

"What's the point, though? Everytime I do- everytime I shut my eyes, he's there. He's yelling at me, he's screaming at me and he's telling me it's my fault, and I can't do anything. My God, Jenna, it's awful. It's disgusting. I am disgusting."

Tyler's voice breaks and he can't hold himself anymore before he bursts into a flurry of sobs and screams, sickness building from the pit of his stomach and growing up. He pushes the plate away as if he were a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Jenna moves and wraps Tyler up in her arms, trying not to cry herself. "There is nothing you could have done to stop what happened. It was- it was just one of those things, Ty. Nobody knows what has happened..."

 

"You're angry at me, aren't you?" Tyler mumbles, looking at the floor so he doesn't have to face his best friend. He hates the idea of having to face him, especially since there was so much he could have done to stop the accident. "I know you're angry."  
Josh moves forward. For a moment, Tyler fears Josh is going to swing for him. Tyler knows he has deserves it.

But a gentle yet strong hand is placed on Tyler's shoulder. "I'm not mad, Tyler." His voice is so soft and kind, the same voice that Tyler knew so well. Hearing his voice in this tone again, the calm within the storm, brings tears to Tyler's eyes. "None of this is your fault, okay? None of it. The roads were wet, I was showing off because we were so happy. There was no reason to be going that fast when it was like that, and I've suffered from my mistakes."

"But I... Josh, I could have-"

"Stop blaming yourself, Ty. Everyone could do something to make the world a better place, but sometimes we just can't. You're a good kid, okay?" The drummer holds Tyler in his arms for a few moments, letting him cry on his shoulder. Everything feels so... So real. He can feel Josh's clothes against his skin, and he can feel Josh's hand on his back, and he can feel his chest rising and falling and it's amazing, it's amazing to feel him there. "You are great. You are, and always will be great. Here, follow me."

Josh takes Tyler's hand, gently down a corridor that seems vaguely familiar, perhaps one that he once lived in. The walls are decorated with pictures of the pair, each one telling a different story of their adventure of friends.

"What is this?" Tyler sniffles, looking at the first picture of many on the wall. It's a picture of Josh stood in the crowd when he first saw Tyler.

"This is when we first met. Literally. The first time I saw you ever. That moment changed my life, Tyler." Josh squeezes Tyler's hand lightly, running his thumb over his knuckles. "If this hadn't have happened-"

"You'd be alive, still." 

"Well... Yes, but I wouldn't have been able to live this wonderful life, Tyler. I wouldn't have been able to live a fairytale like I have." Josh's smile is bittersweet.

He leads his best friend down the hallway and tells him loads of stories, reminiscing with him about the memories they have shared together. Some of them, Tyler had forgotten about.

But then the last picture comes, and it's from the day of the accident. The two are holding each other tighter than they ever have done before, their faces the picture of joy and excitement. It's when they found out about the world tour.

"Look, man. Look how happy we were! I don't think you should stop the tour, you should do it! It would be a great tour and that's not something I want you to miss out on." 

There is a hint of a smile on Tyler's face, but part of him doesn't want to show it.

"Tyler, come on. It's been great. Really, it has. I couldn't have had a better life. I couldn't have had a better best friend than you- you've been there with me through it all, through thick and thin, Hell and high water. All of this has been possible because of you. All of this, all of our fans, all of our music- it's all because of you. And it's been amazing beyond what words can describe. But... But I've got to go, Ty. I love you, I love you and I don't want you to forget it, but it's my time to leave. Everyone's clock stops ticking sometime, right? This time is mine." 

 

Tyler holds the picture of himself and Josh in his hands. Tyler's little boy is sat in his lap, fiddling with something or another, not paying much attention as his father tells him of stories of himself and his best friend. He's more focused on trying to get away, play with whatever he's playing with, or trying to grab the picture with sticky hands.

But a smile is spread over Tyler's face as he thinks to his best friend, love filling his heart. Since he had said goodbye all those years ago, he had never had another nightmare, although his son had commented a few times that a man called Josh had been talking to him.

Although he would love to have Josh by his side as he had done for a good part of his adult life, he knows that can't be. He's just happy that they have both found peace with what has happened.


End file.
